


You're slow today Princess

by that_theatre_nerdx



Series: Someone take Arthur Pendragon away from me [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Canon What Canon, Established Relationship, Fainting, M/M, Sickfic, someone take arthur pendragon away from me, we're ignoring canon here ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:14:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29611332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_theatre_nerdx/pseuds/that_theatre_nerdx
Summary: Just your run of the mill sickfic with Arthur as the sick one because I haven't seen enough of them to be honest
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Someone take Arthur Pendragon away from me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2175540
Comments: 1
Kudos: 79





	You're slow today Princess

**Author's Note:**

> For the love of everything someone p l e a s e take Arthur away from me because honestly, I keep hurting him, and I don’t intend to stop any time soon. This is based off my (worryingly frequent) experiences of lightheadedness and fainting so yee :D

From the moment Arthur woke up, he knew something was off. Merlin’s calls seemed louder than usual, the sun streaming through his windows seemed brighter. His head was pounding and Arthur wanted nothing more than to crawl back under his covers and not move for the rest of the day.

“Up and at ‘em, Sire. Busy day ahead!” came Merlin’s sing-song voice. Gods, Arthur loved Merlin, but he wanted nothing more to be left alone at the moment. Normally, Arthur would’ve thrown something in Merlin’s general direction, but today he didn’t have the energy to.

Arthur’s lack of a retaliation worried Merlin slightly. “Are you alright?” Merlin asked, coming over and sitting on the edge of the bed. Arthur poked his head out of the sheets and propped himself up on his elbows.

“Perfectly fine, Merlin,” he said, not wanting a fuss to be made. He had far too many things to do today. Things more important than a headache.

Merlin, however, was not convinced. He frowned at Arthur. “You look a little pale, love. Are you sure you’re ok?”

“I’m fine, Merlin.” Arthur said, swinging his legs so he was now sitting next to Merlin, ignoring the headrush he got. “I’m just a bit tired.” It was a feeble excuse, but Merlin seemed to buy it, or at least he didn’t press more. Instead, he got up and went over to the wardrobe and began to sort through the clothes.

Arthur ran a hand across his face and sighed inwardly. “Remind me what I have to do today, Merlin.”

Merlin smiled slightly. “Well, you have a council meeting in 15 minutes. Then, after that, you have another council meeting, then another council meeting. Then, do you want to guess what you have?”

“A council meeting?”

“Give the man a prize. Then training with the knights and finally some form of welcome dinner.”

Arthur groaned. “So a quiet day then?”

“Mmm yes, very.” Merlin slammed the wardrobe door and turned to Arthur. “Now come on, you’ll be late at this rate.”

\----------

By the last council meeting, Arthur was beginning to wish he’d stayed in bed. It felt like someone was hitting a hammer on the inside of his skull, his vision couldn’t quite focus on anything. Adding insult to injury, Arthur hadn’t had time for breakfast, and had had only a slice of bread for lunch between two council meetings, which was really not helping the whole lightheaded thing. Nevertheless, he kept his king appearance up, smiling and talking as if nothing was wrong.

At one point, during a _rivating_ speech about grain from a lord he could never remember the name of, black spots began to dance in front of his eyes and he went more lightheaded than he had been all day. He shut his eyes as discreetly as possible, and tried to steady himself in his seat. Thankfully, no one noticed.

Or he thought no one noticed. From his corner of the room, Merlin saw Arthur sway slightly. He somehow looked paler than this morning, and Merlin was mentally kicking himself for not making Arthur rest.

\----------

The council meeting soon came to a close, and people began to take their leave. Soon, only Arthur was left, having only a few seconds to breathe before he had to go to training. He stood up from his seat, pausing to let the vertigo pass. When he opened his eyes, Merlin was standing in front of him, concern plastered on his face.

“You’re not ok are you?”

“Hello to you too. Ready to go?” Arthur said, hoping to distract Merlin. It didn’t work.

“I really don’t think you should be training today.”

“I’m fine, Merls. It’s just a headache, not the end of the world, I’m-” He paused for a second to let the world stop spinning. “I’m fine.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow in response. “I’m sure the knights would understand if you missed training for one day- in fact I know they would.”

Arthur seriously considered that for a moment, but he couldn’t be thought of as weak. Missing training for a headache? What kind of king would he be? “I know they wouldn’t mind,” he said, taking Merlin’s hand and leading him out of the room down to the training ground, “But, as I’ve said all day, I’m fine. It’s just a headache.”

“You are insufferable, you know that right?”

Arthur laughed. “You’ve mentioned.”

\----------

Training was a bad idea. Being outside in the sun only made the pounding in Arthur’s skull worse, and he was finding it harder to concentrate. Merlin sat off to the side, keeping more of an eye on Arthur than usual. He was sure Arthur shouldn’t be doing any form of physical work, but the king was so _stubborn_ , there was no way to convince him.

As training progressed, Merlin noticed Arthur’s attacks and defences against Percival became more and more sluggish and sloppy, missing even the simplest of blocks. It seemed Merlin wasn’t the only one to pick up on this fact.

“You’re slow today, Princess.” Gwaine called from the edge of the ring, smiling slightly. Arthur only glared in response.

“What? It’s true!” Gwaine defended.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but, Gwaine’s right.” Lancelot offered. “Are you ok?”

Arthur was about to respond when spots clouded his vision again. But this time they didn’t fade. If anything they got worse. His knees went weak and before he could fully comprehend what was happening, it felt like someone had flipped a switch and the world went black.

Merlin was up and by Arthurs side within seconds. He thanked the gods it was only a few knights today; Arthur would’ve been embarrassed beyond belief if there had been any more people.

Leon was already kneeling down beside Arthur. “Well, he’s still breathing, so there’s that.”

Merlin nodded. “That’s good. I think he’s just fainted. Can someone run and fetch Gaius, send him up to Arthur’s chambers? I’ll take him there now.”

Elyan nodded, running off in the direction of the physicians chambers. Merlin, meanwhile, had adjusted both himself and Arthur so that the latter’s head was in the former's lap. 

Arthur groaned and winced slightly as he came round. He noticed it was outside, and there was the familiar sensation of someone running their hands through his hair.

“Just a headache, hm?”

“Shu’ up.” Arthur replied, doing his best attempt at a glare.

Merlin’s gaze softened. “Why didn’t you tell me you weren’t well, you prat?”

“Didn’t want to worry you.”

“Well I think you failed there. Are you up to moving? I think you’d be more comfortable in a bed and not on the hard ground.”

\----------

After an… interesting journey back to their chambers (when had it gone from Arthur’s to theirs? Merlin didn’t know) involving multiple stops and one moment where Merlin thought Arthur was going to pass out again, Arthur was now lying on the bed, pale as the sheets, as Gaius was checking over him, making sure he hadn’t injured himself when he fainted.

“Well, Sire, I can say that you have sustained no injuries. I would suggest that you rest for a few days and remain hydrated.”

“Thank you, Gaius.” Merlin said, moving from where he was sitting at the table to Arthur’s bed. Gaius nodded and exited quietly.

“Hear that, Arthur?” Merlin said, smiling. “You need to rest. No trying to push through it because ‘you’re the king.’”

“Yes Merlin, I heard.” Arthur said, instinctively leaning into Merlin, who began running his hands through Arthur’s hair. Slowly, aided by the pleasant silence and the rhythmic motion of Merlin’s hands in his hair, Arthur began to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Is the ending bad and rushed? Why yes, yes it is, but I r e a l l y had no idea how the fuck to finish it so uh, y’all can have fun with that and I’ll go disappear back into my cave


End file.
